FAMU alum takes Bite of Brown to nation’s capital

Co-founder of Dream Marketing Group and 2015 FAMU Graduate Caleb Ross. Image courtesy: Ross

After two years of finding success in Tallahassee, Bite of Brown has expanded to Washington D.C.

What began as a seven-day long restaurant week is now a festival taking place Sept. 3 in the nation’s capital.

Caleb Ross, co-founder of Dream Marketing Group and a 2015 graduate of Florida A&M University, relocated to the metro Washington area in 2016. Working in the D.C. hospitality industry, Ross has had direct contact with minority-owned businesses.

“We started the Bite of Brown week in Tallahassee to amplify the voices of Black-owned restaurants. We know that a lot of different people come from a lot of diverse places so we expanded to D.C.” Ross said. “It’s the nation’s capital so we definitely wanted to kick off there and implement our mission of shedding light on these minority-owned businesses.”

Using this festival to carry out the Bite of Brown mission, Ross has assembled a team of other Black-owned companies like Eat Noire and The Wave dedicated to the economic growth of minority owned businesses.

Founder of Eat Noire and fellow HBCU grad Brandon Banks said he is excited to be added to the Bite of Brown movement.

“I was introduced to Bite of Brown by way of co-founder Caleb Ross. I had heard of all the great things they did in Tallahassee and felt it would be a great addition,” Banks said. “Thus far, my role in the festival has been to get restaurants and minority-owned spirit companies on board. Having my connection to several minority-owned restaurants and libation companies, I was able to create an experiential tasting lounge taking place during the festival.”

Banks and the team have accumulated more than 20 food and beverage vendors to be present during the festival.

Bite of Brown Festival. Image courtesy: Ross

The event will take place at the Gateway D.C. festival grounds from noon to 9 p.m. Bite of Brown welcomes all ages to come out to enjoy food and live performances by iconic Go-Go bands New Impressionz and Future Band.

Tickets range from $10 to $50.

“As college students with not a lot of money, this is something perfect for my friends and I to go to,” Howard University student Malachi Stewart said. “As a Black business owner myself, this event is inspiring to say the least.”

With plans to get bigger, Ross says his work does not stop here.

“Our plan for the future is in year two doing it again in DC,” Ross said. “But in year three we definitely want to find smaller cities that need this type of exposure that Bite of Brown brings.”

Visit www.BiteofBrown.com to purchase tickets.